LIVERMORE, Calif. _ Over the shouts of a lone heckler at a packed Livermore town hall, Northern California Rep. Eric Swalwell on Saturday once more called for the creation of an independent commission to investigate Russian interference in the 2016 election.
"If we do anything, we should make sure that the 2018 election is more secure than the 2016 election," Swalwell said, drawing a round of applause from the audience.
Roughly 500 people filled the seats at a Granada High School gym, many of whom were in attendance of a town hall for the first time amid concerns over what they said they view as a tense and divisive political climate in Washington. The event was organized to address questions from constituents about jobs, health care and what Swalwell called efforts to protect democracy.
It came days after special counsel Robert Mueller convened a criminal grand jury to investigate the presidential election, focusing on Donald Trump Jr.'s meeting with a Russian lawyer who promised damaging information about Hillary Clinton.
Questions over the Russia probe and GOP efforts to kill the Affordable Care Act dominated the discussion.
Swalwell, a Democrat who serves on the House Intelligence Committee, has started a web page detailing the alleged Russian ties of Trump administration officials. He said Mueller's investigation did not eliminate the need for an independent commission.
The congressman said there was no evidence Russian actors had changed votes. But intelligence reports had shown Russia President Vladimir Putin had influenced the election through "a multifaceted attack" that he said included hacked emails and the spread of fake news through social media trolls.
"What we know the Russians did do is that they went into a number of state election voter databases," he said. "We don't know why. You could speculate that they wanted to show that they could at least get in, and that it would sow discord or sow doubt when the result came out."
The event was largely free of the protests and rambunctious tactics that have overtaken recent town halls in California. One man in the audience shouted questions at Swalwell as he spoke about Russian interference, yelling "Get over it. He won." But he was soon silenced by the audience.
Swalwell also fielded questions about his efforts to ease college and debt and build the Future Forum, a group of young Democratic members of Congress focused on student loan debt and home ownership.
On health care, Swalwell called for "Medicare for all" system, saying lawmakers needed to continue to expand access and reduce costs. Constituents quizzed him on who would pay for such a plan.
